Karachi, Saturday 21 Aug 2010.

Dear all,

Two days has passed since i left Greece, Athens to Pakistan. Long flight, transiting here and there before I set foot in Karachi. My arrival in Karachi was welcomed by rain. It has been raining since, off and on here. My good friend Yousuf Bashir picked up at the Karachi airport. We are amongst those who served the Pakistan Earthquake up in the mountains back in 2005.

Yousuf Profile

Profile on his wall

We kept in-touch via sms and e-mail and here we are again for another mission.

Yousof is a cool, very humble down to earth local guy with a very good heart. Helping his fellow countrymen, pulling all his resources to make sure that the goods and relief items gets to the right person. Currently Yousof and his friends are running this local NGO called United Pakistan. I have worked along with them before and I am so happy to work with them again.

Yousuf brought me back to his studio downtown and I managed to freshen up.

Yousuf’s studio

Quick shower and I am ready. Went for meetings here and there and had some orientations. Briefings done  and i am up to speed. Logistics during crisis like this is a scare, not to mention security issue. If you remember, I wrote about the situation during my stop in Pakistan. Killings, kidnappings, bombings is a norm. But then again, the people need help. Went for security and logistics briefing this morning with Director of operations for PDMA (Provincial Disaster Management Authority Gov of Sindh) and they gave was assurance for the full security and logistic support for my mission here.

It’s really tough for us to get supplies for the past 2 days. There was shooting and  bombing in the city. Prices of goods went up, making things worst. Shops are closed, supplies didn’t arrive on time and sometimes didn’t at all and we are unable to get trucks to move and basically the town was quiet. Police and army are like everywhere. But work never stop. Packing and getting the family pack is still ongoing.

My plan is to get 1000 family pack to be distributed in the hard hit area. Till yesterday we managed to get 200 packs ready and delivered. Another 800 more packs to go and to be distributed personally when we get those big trucks.

United Pakistan warehouse

As you can see in the picture, this is our warehouse, where we operate and do our packing. It is right behind the studio. Yousof gave away the space in his studio for this relief mission.

What’s in the Sack?

A small sack contains flour, rice, salt, oil, dhal, biscuits, pickles, milk powder, tea, matches, sugar, beans, dates, Indomie, soap and baby milk. This family food pack can feed a family of 5 for a month. How much does it cost? It’s only a mere RM50 (USD15) for each sack; cheaper than a buffet iftar back home in a hotel or restaurant.

Flour and Beans

Water bottles

Dear friends, readers, followers, bikers and fellow Malaysians. It’s time to give. Let’s give them a helping hand.

Family pack

I am not doing this to show off, gaining publicity nor for rewards. I have been doing this for years.  Served many missions in the past, most I kept in my other blog: hadihussien.blogspot.com.  Sorry it has not been updated for quite sometimes but my past mission pictures are all there. Do visit and have a look. Will try to write more with pictures and videos as I go along. Time is short when you are on the move in the field.

Till later.

Khoda Hafez